Brian Price is the coxswain for Canada’s two-time reigning world champion men’s eight crew, a role he has assumed permanently since 2001. And while he is small in stature his story is a big influence on his crew and all the young athletes he has spoken to over the years

Price is a cancer survivor who battled Leukemia from the age of seven to 12. He has been in remission ever since. “Without cancer I would never have become a world champion,” he said. “You have to take the bad and roll with it. Keep on fighting.”

He also coached and coxed in New Zealand in the winter of 1998-1999 before returning to Canada. He coxed Canada’s men’s eight to fourth at the 1999 Pan Am Games and coached the pairs to silver at the under-23 worlds in 2001.

“I became involved with the (Quinte Rowing Club in Belleville) when I was still in high school,” said Price. “When I moved to rowing full time, the doors to the nationals were opened.”

As the coxswain of the men’s team, Price’s role is to steer, execute the game plan and motivate. There is constant decision making and Price uses his experience to his advantage. “It’s easy to get flustered if you aren’t confident and experienced,” said Price, whose weight can’t go under 121 lbs as coxswain. “You have to use your head and make the smart, right decision.”

Off the water, Price is a civil engineering technologist with a planning consulting company in Belleville, Ont.